Sometimes when you’re running a business, the “C” word is going to come up—we’re talking about “compromise” here, relax. Your startup may be growing, but you’re still in no position to move into a larger office, so you might compromise by knocking down a wall or two and maximizing your space. You could also ask Tyler to haul his air-hockey table back home; your call.

A VPS (virtual private server) is a web hosting compromise: it’s faster, more functional, and more easily scalable to handle increased traffic than a shared server—but it’s also more expensive. Still, a VPS typically costs half as much as a dedicated server, the gold standard for big-biz sites. If your small business is at the in-between junction of traffic versus income, a VPS could be a painless, simple solution.

The “virtual” in VPS means that your account is assigned an isolated partition within a dedicated server, with a set amount of resources made exclusively available to you. VPS allows more user control than a shared server, as well as better security and no impaired site performance from bandwidth-sucking server neighbors. It’s as close to dedicated-server performance as you can get without canceling Pizza Friday.

Business.org reviewed 13 VPS hosting providers to determine the best value for a small enterprise.

Data effective 08/24/18. At publishing time, pricing and features are current but are subject to change. Some prices contingent on multi-year contracts.

Though you’ll sometimes see VPS hosting and cloud hosting advertised as if they’re the same platform, they’re not. A VPS can be hosted on either a physical dedicated server or across a network of servers operating as a cloud system. Physical server plans tend to be of the host-managed and -maintained variety, while cloud servers offer more user control. The VPS hosting providers we’ve reviewed here utilize both platforms, and each has its own advantages—but keep in mind that a VPS is still as much a shared service as it is a dedicated one, so there will be some limitations in exchange for lower monthly operating costs.

Best beginner plans: Namecheap

Strengths

Inexpensive plans

Domain services

Weaknesses

Pricey add-ons

Shorter 14-day money-back guarantee

California-based Namecheap is a domain registrar that also offers a full range of web hosting services that, true to the title, are relatively inexpensive. If you’re establishing a new website or moving an existing one from another hosting service, Namecheap can facilitate the logistics of domain migration, email hosting, and site building. In fact, we crowned Namecheap as our best overall domain registrar in a 2018 Business.org review.

Also, when it comes to web hosting, Namecheap impresses, at least with its upper-tier plans. The company offers only two VPS hosting packages, but they’re both powerful, feature-loaded, and—best of all—not tied to annual contracts (Namecheap’s plans are billed month to month). Both plans, VPS Pulsar and VPS Quasar, guarantee 99.9% uptime, RAID (redundant array of independent disks) storage protection, and easy scalability. On the downside, Namecheap’s add-ons (like the cPanel management dashboard, extra dedicated IP addresses, and e-commerce tools) can add up, taking a bite out of those initial savings.

Data effective 08/24/18. At publishing time, pricing and features are current but are subject to change. Some prices contingent on multi-year contracts.

Best scalable plans: Bluehost

Strengths

Fast, solid plans

Easy use and navigation

Weaknesses

Limited free tools

Three-year contract

Taking the opposite route of Namecheap, Utah’s Bluehost is a robust web hosting service that’s gotten into the domain-registration game in order to become a one-stop shop for getting sites online. Bluehost does both well while keeping things simple and (mostly) cheap; even a web novice who’s baffled by email could have a site up and functioning within hours through Bluehost. We’ve reviewed the company’s entire service scope in depth here at Business.org, and we like it.

Bluehost is an industry leader in WordPress hosting, and the company’s best WP plans run on its VPS servers. Bluehost offers three VPS plans: Standard, Enhanced, and Ultimate. Each includes no bandwidth caps, a 30-day money-back guarantee, 24/7/365 support, and multiple features that other web hosting companies usually charge extra for. To take advantage of Bluehost’s inexpensive VPS prices, however, you’ll need to lock into a three-year contract, and the included website-building tools aren’t really all that (you can pay extra for access to better builders as well as more functional e-commerce tools).

California web hosting company JustHost isn’t as well-known as other entities on this list, and a first glance at its gimmicked-up website might lead you to believe you’re being sold a used car. But under the hood, JustHost offers some attractive hosting plans—cloud-based VPS and dedicated options only—at decent prices, with plenty of useful features thrown in for free.

What JustHost’s four VPS plans—Standard, Enhanced, Premium, and Ultimate—lack in titling imagination, they make up for in performance and included features. Some prefer cloud-based hosting over standard dedicated as it spreads the workload over multiple servers, increasing speed, security, and redundancies, and it can be scaled up more quickly in reaction to traffic spikes. JustHost also includes an enhanced cPanel control dashboard for multi-account management and root access, as well as 24/7/365 support via phone, chat, tickets, and an online knowledge base. Long-term contracts aren’t required, but they are available—they’re worth looking into, as JustHost’s introductory prices nearly double upon renewal.

Data effective 08/24/18. At publishing time, pricing and features are current but are subject to change. Some prices contingent on multi-year contracts.

Best inexpensive plans: DreamHost

Strengths

Low-priced plans

Unlimited bandwidth

Weaknesses

No cPanel dashboard

No Windows servers

Founded in ye olden days of the internet (1997), California’s DreamHost is one of the largest web hosting services online today, hosting 1.5 million sites for over 400,000 clients. Like Bluehost and JustHost, DreamHost is currently owned by the Endurance International Group, an even bigger internet goliath, which is good for deep resources and cross-functional connections but potentially off-putting for those with an aversion to dealing with massive corporations. So, now you know.

That said, DreamHost’s full range of hosting platforms offer features galore for the more web-experienced while still providing hand-holding support for newbies. In particular, the company’s fully managed VPS plans promise a lot of power for a small payout, with unlimited bandwidth and unlimited hosted domains across the board. For developers who’d like root access control, DreamHost offers an unmanaged, cloud-based version of its VPS service. Like most other web-hosting services reviewed here, DreamHost also provides 24/7/365 support, domain-registration services, and email and custom site-building solutions.

Data effective 08/24/18. At publishing time, pricing and features are current but are subject to change. Some prices contingent on multi-year contracts.

Best advanced plans: LiquidWeb

Strengths

Premium packages

Complete range of features

Weaknesses

High prices

Complex interface

Michigan-based Liquid Web has been in the hosting business for over 20 years, providing server service for the likes of Home Depot, National Geographic, and Porsche. If you’re a small company with minimal online needs and even more minimal site experience, Liquid Web probably isn’t for you. This is a hosting service for operations with heavier-than-a-hundred-hippos traffic, demanding developers, and the capital to afford it—Liquid Web isn’t cheap, and it’s not exactly an entry-level utility.

We’ve mentioned that other VPS hosts include a decent array of features; Liquid Web has all of the features. The company’s fully managed, cloud-based VPS plans are, as alluded to, more expensive than most, ranging from $59 to $189 a month, but they still offer most of the functionality and stability of Liquid Web’s twice-as-pricey dedicated cloud plans. Liquid Web is a premium service, a Mercedes-Benz among the Hondas and Chevys of web hosting: if your business has formidable online demands and the cash to cover it, these VPS plans are unequivocally solid.

Data effective 08/24/18. At publishing time, pricing and features are current but are subject to change. Some prices contingent on multi-year contracts.

When to consider switching to a VPS hosting solution

VPS hosting is big step up from shared hosting, in both functionality and cost, but it’s still not as intimidating a commitment as dedicated hosting. You should weigh the ROI on VPS when you face these situations:

Your enterprise has passed the threshold of brand-new to established brand.

You’d like total control over every facet of your site.

You want heightened levels of security and support.

Your small business is on the verge of becoming medium-sized.

Your business has aspirations to grow even more, and quickly.

Your site is experiencing significant traffic, which requires more bandwidth and storage space.

The takeaway

Namecheap’s plans would accommodate newbies nicely, while Bluehost’s VPS offerings are agile and quickly expandable. Those curious about cloud VPS hosting solutions should definitely check out JustHost, while DreamHost’s plans are attractively inexpensive, and Liquid Web is for the truly web-committed.

VPS web hosting represents the best of both worlds, an affordable middle ground between the lower costs of shared hosting and the traffic-handling capabilities of dedicated hosting. But even though most VPS services offer comforting promises of ease and support, this tier of hosting requires a little more knowledge and attention than simply throwing up a static site with a basic menu and a contact box; VPS offers a level of control you’ll want to take advantage of, especially since you’ll be paying more for it.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

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